Concern for White-Tailed Eagle After Suspicious Disappearance in Southern Uplands
The disappearance of a white-tailed eagle in the Southern Uplands is being treated as suspicious by police, raising fresh concerns for the protection of birds of prey in Scotland.
Satellite Tag Stops Transmitting in Suspicious Circumstances
The four-year-old eagle, which was fitted with a satellite tag, had spent much of the year ranging between Peebles and Heriot in the Scottish Borders. More recently, tracking data showed the bird moving to lower ground north of the Moorfoot Hills, near Gladhouse Reservoir in Midlothian.
Police Scotland said the tag stopped transmitting in “circumstances that give rise to suspicion”, prompting an investigation.
Wildlife crime officers from Police Scotland, supported by the UK National Wildlife Crime Unit, carried out searches of the area where the signal was last recorded. No trace of the eagle or its tracking device was found.
Police are now appealing to the public for information that could help establish what happened to the bird.
Wildlife crime officer PC Ali Whitby said: “This is a huge, iconic bird of prey that chose to fly hundreds of miles north and settle in the Moorfoot Hills.
”Being so big its presence was known to people working and living in the area and it thrived for eight months; the fact it has now gone missing in suspicious circumstances is extremely disappointing.”
Eagle Part of National Reintroduction Programme
The missing eagle was translocated as a chick from Scotland to the Isle of Wight as part of a white-tailed eagle reintroduction programme led by the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation.
After fledging, the bird made its way back to Scotland and later settled in the Moorfoot Hills.
This is the third white-tailed eagle connected to the programme to have disappeared. The two previous cases occurred in England and Wales.
A spokesperson for the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation described the repeated disappearances as “sickening and deeply shocking”.
Calls for Information From Public and Land Groups
Scottish Land & Estates has backed the appeal for information, urging anyone who may have seen the eagle or has relevant knowledge to come forward.
Police Scotland has asked members of the public to report any sightings or information that could assist the ongoing wildlife crime investigation.
Ross Ewing, director of moorland and strategic projects, said: “We understand that land managers in Moorfoots have been helping police with the search and will continue to provide whatever help they can as the investigation progresses.
“It is clearly in everyone’s interests to establish as quickly as possible what has happened to this eagle.
“We would encourage anyone with relevant information to come forward to assist Police Scotland.”
——————————————————————————
At Natural World Fund, we are passionate about restoring habitats in the UK to halt the decline in our wildlife.
